diff --git a/apps/backend/src/lib/config/index.tsx b/apps/backend/src/lib/config/index.tsx
index bd3234209..a6d962890 100644
--- a/apps/backend/src/lib/config/index.tsx
+++ b/apps/backend/src/lib/config/index.tsx
@@ -721,7 +721,9 @@ export async function cancelConfigAgentRun(options: {
     }
     await tx.configAgentRun.update({
       where: { id: options.runId },
-      data: { status: "cancelled", finishedAt: new Date(options.nowMs), sandboxId: null, stage: null, baseCommitSha: null },
+      // Clear the captured change too: a cancelled run is abandoned, so its diff/base
+      // must not linger in the API shape or be replayable by the commit route.
+      data: { status: "cancelled", finishedAt: new Date(options.nowMs), sandboxId: null, stage: null, baseCommitSha: null, diff: null },
     });
     return { cancelled: true, sandboxId: run.sandboxId ?? undefined, previousStatus: run.status };
   });
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/src/components/config-update/progress-content.tsx b/apps/dashboard/src/components/config-update/progress-content.tsx
index 3be108ce7..d37af3eb9 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/src/components/config-update/progress-content.tsx
+++ b/apps/dashboard/src/components/config-update/progress-content.tsx
@@ -26,20 +26,27 @@ function stageIndex(stage: AgentStage | null | undefined): number {
 
 /**
  * Live "seconds since the run started" counter. The run's `startedAt` is a
- * wall-clock epoch value; we capture the start→now offset against a fresh
- * monotonic anchor and then advance on that monotonic clock. The anchor and
- * offset are recomputed whenever `startedAt` changes (e.g. when a flow renders
- * the box before its real start timestamp is known), so the counter resets
- * instead of freezing a stale offset. Recomputing the offset every render —
- * which is what the old code did — re-added the elapsed time on top of the
- * monotonic delta and made the timer tick at ~2× speed.
+ * wall-clock epoch value, with `0` as the "not started yet" sentinel — until a
+ * real start time arrives the counter stays at 0 (otherwise it would briefly
+ * read ~epoch-since-1970). For a real `startedAt` we capture the start→now offset
+ * against a fresh monotonic anchor and advance on that monotonic clock. Both are
+ * recomputed whenever `startedAt` changes (e.g. when a flow renders the box
+ * before its real start timestamp is known), so the counter resets instead of
+ * freezing a stale offset. Recomputing the offset every render — which the old
+ * code did — re-added the elapsed time on top of the monotonic delta and made
+ * the timer tick at ~2× speed.
  */
+function elapsedOffsetMs(startedAt: number): number {
+  return startedAt > 0 ? Math.max(0, currentEpochMsFromPerformance() - startedAt) : 0;
+}
+
 function useElapsedSeconds(startedAt: number): number {
-  const [elapsedMs, setElapsedMs] = useState(() => Math.max(0, currentEpochMsFromPerformance() - startedAt));
+  const [elapsedMs, setElapsedMs] = useState(() => elapsedOffsetMs(startedAt));
   useEffect(() => {
-    const anchorPerfMs = performance.now();
-    const offsetMs = Math.max(0, currentEpochMsFromPerformance() - startedAt);
+    const offsetMs = elapsedOffsetMs(startedAt);
     setElapsedMs(offsetMs);
+    if (startedAt <= 0) return;
+    const anchorPerfMs = performance.now();
     const t = setInterval(() => setElapsedMs(offsetMs + (performance.now() - anchorPerfMs)), 1000);
     return () => clearInterval(t);
   }, [startedAt]);
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/config-eval.ts b/packages/shared/src/config-eval.ts
index c8bd39b16..9efe83709 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/config-eval.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/config-eval.ts
@@ -130,8 +130,11 @@ import.meta.vitest?.test("evalConfigFileContent rejects missing config import ta
   `, "/tmp/hexclave-missing-import-config.ts")).toThrow();
 });
 
-import.meta.vitest?.test("evalConfigFileContent rejects syntactically invalid content", ({ expect }) => {
-  // jiti surfaces a ParseError (not a ConfigFileEvalError), so callers route this
-  // to "Failed to load config file" rather than "Invalid config".
-  expect(() => evalConfigFileContent("export const config = {", "stack.config.ts")).toThrow();
+import.meta.vitest?.test("evalConfigFileContent surfaces invalid syntax as a loader error, not ConfigFileEvalError", ({ expect }) => {
+  // A malformed file fails inside jiti's parser, so the thrown error is a loader
+  // error — NOT a ConfigFileEvalError. Callers depend on that distinction to route
+  // it to "Failed to load config file" rather than "Invalid config".
+  const evalInvalid = () => evalConfigFileContent("export const config = {", "stack.config.ts");
+  expect(evalInvalid).toThrow();
+  expect(evalInvalid).not.toThrow(ConfigFileEvalError);
 });